Ok, this is odd. Speculate what you think this means, I have an idea of what you may be thinking though. Grain of salt and such.

Two fairly new entries to the registry are "Valve TestApp440 - Test 1" and "Valve TestApp440 - Test 1 (DE)" [This isn't a Deluxe Edition, it is a Low Violence version, DE means Deutsch, aka German, it has the value LowViolenceInRestrictedCountries=1"]

Now, why should you care? If you ever took the time to find the tools to look at stuff, you will find things like "[8527] ValveTestApp55399 Comp", which is normally done to try and obscure just what the game is. Lower number are Valve games. Now, at first I thought it could be Dota 2, because the Beta of Dota 2 is 490. But, I just took a quick look at 440 is. Want to know what 440 is? Team Fortress 2.

And I just now noticed there is a "No Cost" check ticked.

Hmmmmmm...

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Well we all know that TF2 is Valve's test bed for new things as seen with Portal 2's hats. Now what game is Valve coming out with next, aw yes DOTA 2! At the time I saw DOTA 2 Valve had yet to really start talking about pricing but if TF2 is really getting a F2P version I bet you its testing for DOTA 2.

Now there are a few pros and cons I can see with TF2 going F2P

Pros:

Already established community

Chance for a much larger player base/community

Possibility for more hat related profits

Expanded economy with all the new players

Cons:

Hackers, oh god the hackers!

Idle accounts up the wazoo

Old players getting mad that something they paid for is now free

Now the 2nd and 3rd con could be fixed easly by disabling drops for those who acquired TF2 over F2P and charging them $10 (TF2's current price on steam) to active them. That way people can't just make 10+ idle account and destroy the economy by flooding the market with their "free" weapons and hats. As for the hackers I have no idea how this could be fixed without blocking online play which would defeat the purpose of having a F2P TF2 so I will leave the TF2 team to figure that out.

Now I could see this roll out in a number of ways. One way is that F2P TF2 rolls out with TF2 beta and normal TF2 still intact. Then Valve would watch how players react to the F2P version and how many people sign on. Then with this data in mind they could decide to drop F2P TF2 altogether indicating that DOTA 2 most likely will not be F2P or they could keep F2P TF2 and Normal TF2 side by side indicating that DOTA 2 might be F2P or they could kill off normal TF2 and replace it with F2P indicating that DOTA 2 will most likely be F2P or we could just be going nuts and its just this:

Well I think hackers will be dealt with by VAC. Always worked in the past, still works, and will work in the future.

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It worked because people who got banned had to create new accounts and re-purchase the game under it to go back to playing on the secure servers. Unless Valve plans to require players to enter and somehow verify an extensive amount of personal information when registering a new account, VAC doesn't look like it's going to be able to do anything anymore.

Well I think hackers will be dealt with by VAC. Always worked in the past, still works, and will work in the future.

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My only issue with this is that VAC is delayed. Sure it will get them eventually, but it's not going to stop me from rage-quitting servers due to hackers. And with F2P? No problem! Just make a new steam account and reinstall the game (takes minutes).

Actually, you don't even have to reinstall the game. You get about a month of hacking per account that way. VAC will be useless if TF2 becomes F2P. The only thing I can imagine Valve doing is making TF2 only downloadable if you have a game already installed on that account.

You do realise that basically every new hack that is produced since the advent of VAC bypasses it? This is why comp leagues have either their own anti cheat software or anti cheat admins (and neither of those reliably work either).

You do realise that basically every new hack that is produced since the advent of VAC bypasses it? This is why comp leagues have either their own anti cheat software or anti cheat admins (and neither of those reliably work either).

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Well what would you rather have. VAC or punkbuster.

Every hack that is made eventually gets caught. OK, it's not an instant thing but it's been thorough enough in the past that it's recognised third party software/registry modifications that weren't hacks, but banned these accounts anyway because it doesn't know any better (It's automated).

If you think that VAC doesn't work then go look at the un-VAC-ban request forum on SPUF.

For now, I have no problem with TF2 becoming F2P. It seems kinda inevitable anyway.

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Yea, TF2 makes way more money from its ingame store these days and there is only 1 more "meet the" video (pyro); and every class has had an update now the engineer is over and done with.

4 years down the line i don't have a problem with TF2 going for free even though personally i originally baught it, i've had more than my monies worth playing the game; but the notion of hackers is a concern. It should only be available to those with Valve Steam games already.

I wouldn't be upset if it went F2P, i know a couple of friends who would defiently play it then. With the recent updates, and whats going on with the promo item, I get the feeling the game is "winding down," so I would't be surprised if the game goes F2P. if though, tf2 goes F2P, and as it sounds like people are speculating that DOTA 2, would be F2P... where is Valve going to get money? I would'nt be surprised to see a new title being annouced soon

I would be upset if it went F2P, because I think that once it does the acceptable quality of content goes down. There are all these F2P games and MMOs out nowadays, and the reason why they're F2P? Because they're not worth paying for.

Also, hackers.

[Φ] Randdalf!: was there like a quake telegram messaging service?
Shmitz: to play Quake you had to wait for packets to arrive by pony

I'd be okay with this. I keep to 3 or 4 pub servers, so I wouldn't see a drastic change in gameplay. I mean really, TF2 has been essentially free for forever because of the updates. considering I got TF2 with the Orange Box 3 years ago for $30 and have 835 hours logged on TF2 alone, I'd say I got my money's worth.

TF2 CAN work as a F2P game... as long as there are 0-1 drops per day, and no trading or crafting in the F2P version - forcing those players to buy items from the MannCo store if they want them. Since the store-bought items are untradable anyhow... seems like the perfect solution.

Every hack that is made eventually gets caught. OK, it's not an instant thing but it's been thorough enough in the past that it's recognised third party software/registry modifications that weren't hacks, but banned these accounts anyway because it doesn't know any better (It's automated).

If you think that VAC doesn't work then go look at the un-VAC-ban request forum on SPUF.

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lol - if you think it really does work then check ETF2L or ESL or ESEA's websites.

Check all the bans there - all the self confessed cheaters - none of their accounts are VAC banned. This goes back as far as 3 or 4 years.

There are all these F2P games and MMOs out nowadays, and the reason why they're F2P? Because they're not worth paying for.

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The difference between those games and TF2 is that TF2 was never intended to be a F2P game, therefore the quality is that of what you would expect from any other AAA game instead of being purposely designed to be as crappy as possible to justify buy in-game items.